1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to pokers, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an improved ramming apparatus mounted to an enclosure housing of a water entrained ash hopper for dislodging ash pluggages across an ash discharge opening in the ash hopper to maintain passage of ash from the ash hopper.
2. Description of Related Art
Boilers employed in power plants are often heated by burning coal. The by-product of the combustion of coal is ash. A pair of V-shaped hoppers are positioned beneath the boiler to collect the ash, known as bottom ash, as it falls through the boiler. A typical hopper, having a storage capacity of 6500 cubic feet, will be filled with approximately 25,000 gallons of water in order to absorb the impact of falling ash clinkers, slag and other accumulated deposits.
The ash collected in the hopper is passed from the hopper to a conveying system through a hopper discharge opening. The passage of ash from the hopper is regulated by a hopper door selectively movable back and forth across the hopper discharge opening. An enclosure housing is connected to the hopper to serve as a conduit between the hopper and the conveying system.
The discharge opening of the hopper occasionally becomes plugged or blocked by an accumulation or bridging of ash clinkers and slag thereby preventing ash from being passed from the hopper. When this occurs, power plant personnel in the past have manually poked the ash clinkers with a rod disposed through a pokehole provided in the enclosure housing in an attempt to dislodge the pluggage. While this procedure is sometimes successful in breaking up blockages, if the blockage or bridge is located further in the hopper or to the side of the discharge opening, the plant personnel must open the enclosure housing in order to gain access to the blockage. The problem with this is that when the plant personnel poke at the blockage and in turn break it up with the enclosure housing open, they are exposed to an onrush of 25,000 gallons of hot ash water from which they must take evasive action to avoid serious injury.
To this end, a need has long existed for an adjustable apparatus mountable to the enclosure housing of a water entrained ash hopper for dislodging ash pluggages across the ash discharge opening in the ash hopper while at the same time isolating plant personnel from the hot ash water. It is to such an apparatus that the present invention is directed.